19th June 2005
Time to cut our losses
Some of you reading this will be shaking your heads in disagreement
or even disbelief given just how well Dyer played towards the back
end of last season which both he and Graeme Souness deserve credit
for what was a quite remarkable turnaround in form and temperament.
Indeed for a period he was United's best player and looking the business
if you like, arguably playing his best football since his move from
East Anglia to Tyneside. Finally he started playing to his potential,
contributing and keeping his nose clean. So why cut our losses, you
ask?
Read on...
For once I am not going to highlight his character or lack of as a
reason to get rid (although that is enough reason in itself for me
personally). No, this is purely based on footballing, medical and
financial matters this time.
And the way I see it is this:
I do not consider Dyer to be of any real benefit to Newcastle United
in every sense. Sure he has pace and energy and can play in numerous
positions but he hasn't excelled in any nor ever will. Too weak in
the centre, not direct enough nor good enough with his final ball
for the flank and up front, well he doesn't have the greatest of records
in the goalscoring department does he?
However, those are mere side issues where I'm concerned and where
I hope the club will be concerned (they should be). My main concern
with Dyer is his propensity to miss large chunks of the season due
to injury. Since signing from Ipswich he has played 207 games out
of a possible 314. On average he misses 20 games a season. Newcastle
on average play 48 games a season, so for 20 of them, just under half,
we are without his services. Often in vital games too - Lisbon anyone?
Had he not gone off injured, we would have almost certainly won that
game. And then, who knows...
With one year left to run on his contract, is it really a wise decision
to hand him a new and improved longer deal for such little return?
In the 5 years he has been at the club, the only thing he has delivered
is bad publicity. A new and improved deal could take him beyond 30
years of age and by then he will have almost certainly lost a lot
of his pace and will have no real resale value either.
He has already cost the club in excess of £15 million in transfer
fee, wages, medical bills, insurance and negative headlines, becoming
the biggest waste of money in the club's history. A new deal, for
example at a reduced £40,000 per week for 4 years, will cost an extra
£8.32 million.
Is he really worth that? Can the club afford to shell out such figures
on a player who if form is anything to go by, will miss just under
half a season, every season?
I don't think so. Not when you equate that with what he brings to
the side in a footballing sense, or more significantly what he doesn't
bring. We could sign a pacy, energetic, hard working player just like
him for a fraction of the price his wages would cost. In fact, we
could sign a top-class player who can deliver and play an entire season,
a player with a sound character as an added bonus, for £8m.
Of course, Dyer could go on to play a full season for the remainder
of his stay and take his form from the tail end of the one just gone
into it with him, but that just isn't going to happen and only a fool
or an ultra optimist could envisage such things occurring.
You see, Dyer will forever struggle to play a full season so long
as he is a footballer because of his hamstrings and groin
- two vital components of his body that need to be in tip top condition
for him to fully operate to maximum ability.
Because of his electric pace and boundless energy, Dyer's hamstrings
and groin can not withstand the pounding he must give them to accelerate
and run up and down - up and down as he does for 90 minutes three
times a week. Hamstrings need to be kept warm at all times as a muscle
to contract viciously enough to sprint.
Like all footballer's, Dyer will have periods in the game where he
just doesn't do an awful lot and this stop-start motion is no good
for his hamstrings. He could wear a compression bandage or heat retainer
but if he is in full flight as he often is, that will not stop his
hamstrings from going pop at any moment. And the more wear and tear
he gets to them, the more of an impact this will have on his ability
to sprint and cover the grass.
As we have found out to our cost numerous times over the years (again,
Lisbon anyone?).
This will become even more transparent too if, as Souness has indicated,
Dyer get's played up front or just off the strike force. A position
which will require even more from those dodgy hamstrings of his and
test his durability two-fold.
So, taking a footballing, financial and medical view of Dyer, it would
be sheer madness on the club's behalf to hand him a new and improved
deal and I would like to see the club cut it's considerable losses
on him by not doing so.
At the moment, Dyer is a saleable asset. His stock is now high, not
as high albeit as it was when rumoured multi-million pound interest
from Leeds a few years back caused such alarm within the corridors
and stands of St. James' Park that the powers that be decided to make
the then 19 year-old one of the highest paid players in the club's
history, but because of his pace, work-rate, age and versatility,
there would be numerous club's willing to part good cash for him or
willing to part exchange.
With a possible saving of £8.32 million in wages and a transfer fee
in the region of £4-5 million, that could well buy us the quality
we so desperately need in the positions Dyer just does not excel at
and never will and in doing so perhaps keep Souness and Freddy Shepherd
in a job.
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